(The Center Square) – A private contracting firm working at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state has been accused of fraudulently overbilling the federal government for millions of dollars in labor costs.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington filed a civil court complaint against Hanford Mission Integration Solutions LLC for breach of contract and three counts of violating the federal False Claims Act.
Prosecutors allege that HMIS employees responsible for fire protection and fire systems management at the Hanford site were often idle on a near-daily basis between January 2021 and October 2023 due to the company’s scheduling failures, but still billed the Energy department by “falsely representing that work had been performed.”
“… during this extensive idle time, HMIS fire protection personnel took naps, watched movies and television, and engaged in other personal activity not related to performing work,” the complaint states.